


Her Own Domain

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Category: Charmed
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:58:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo helps Piper in the kitchen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Own Domain

It was in times like this that he most liked watching her. In here, in this place where she was most comfortable and most at home. She was in her element here and nothing was threatening her or stressing her out. This was her domain and the place where she was in absolute and complete control. There was no panic, no disasters and no unexpected surprises...

"Damn it!"

...well, there wasn't usually any unexpected surprises, he thought wryly as he took in the white flour that that now seemed to be coating every available surface in Piper's realm...

Her kitchen.

He let himself materialize after the threat of falling flour was over and it wouldn't end up all over him.

"Honey... what are you doing?"

"Relaxing!"

He knew better than to grin at the tone, he really did but...

"Laugh and you're in danger of losing your orbs!"

Leo covered his grin with his hand until he could make it go away completely.

"If you're relaxing... why are you exploding baking supplies all over the kitchen?"

Piper turned to face him, her hands on her hips. "I was trying to surprise Phoebe and nothing is going right." She let out a breath. "I want to cheer her up."

"By showering everyone with flour?"

His girlfriend glared at him and held up a finger. "You are so close to getting yourself blown up, mister."

Leo showed great bravery and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Is she still down about -- " He made himself stop as he didn't know how to address what had so recently happened with the three sisters.

"It was hard for her to leave Charlotte and Melinda, especially knowing what the dangers were that they will be facing. She wanted us to be able to help them."

Leo sighed. "You guys are not allowed to change anything about the past, she knows that."

"Yes, she knows that, which is why she hasn't tried to do something silly and find a way back there. It's just hard for her. She knows what's going to happen to Melinda and it hurts all of us because we did get the chance to meet the adult Melinda once. And now to have been there to help when she was born - "

He ran a hand through her hair. "I know and what happened wasn't fair... but as you three all know, some things happen for a reason and we cannot question it or change it."

" _You_ cannot question it," Piper corrected. "We will never cease to question why things happen. We will always question what we are forced to do -- especially in situations of that nature." She gave him a smile. "It's why we are such pain in the asses for your bosses to deal with, and why they always send you to do their dirty work for them."

Leo really had no argument for that line of reasoning; mainly because she was right. Whenever the Halliwell sisters did something that the Elders didn't like, rather than facing them theirselves, they always sent Leo to handle it. Deciding that a change of topic was in order, he brushed hair back from her forehead. "How can I help?"

Piper sighed. "Get a broom and start sweeping up the floor while I try to figure out a way to salvage the rest of the recipe."

"What are you making her?"

"Devil's Food cake."

Leo shook his head and grabbed a broom, starting to sweep the flour up off of the floor while Piper started gathering another batch of ingredients to work with again. He stopped sweeping to lean on his broom and just watch her with a contented smile on his face. After a few moments, Piper stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

"Watching you."

"Why?"

He gave her a slow smile. "Because, sometimes I just like watching you as you go about your work, especially in here. The kitchen is sometimes your domain, the place that you feel the most at ease and confident."

Piper blushed. "Charmed One or not, I am still a chef at heart," she admitted. "There were times that I wold be in the kitchen with Grams and she and I would be cooking something together. She's the one who taught me to go with my instincts in mixing ingredients and not to always rely on measurements from recipes."

"Does that help in potion making for you as well?" Leo was curious about this as he had never thought to ask her before.

"Sometimes," Piper nodded. "Sometimes I go with instincts and sometimes I am very careful about using the exacts in a recipe. In food, exacts do not matter so much because you always want to make them to taste. Potions are different."

"How so?"

"Well, potions -- especially the vanquishing potions -- seem to have to be exact in order for them to work. If we diverge from the recipe that the Book of Shadows gives us, then there is a chance that it won't work and we'll be the ones to end up dead."

Leo wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him. "You're right, that does make them extremely different," he said seriously, looking down into her eyes. "I like the idea that you stick to the exacts in that sort of situation. I wouldn't want to lose the most important thing to me because the measurements were off on the ingredients."

Piper smiled up at him as she tightened her arms around his waist. "I don't plan for that to happen. I plan to live a long life and become an elderly nagging wife."

Leo laughed. "You're planning to nag me alot when we get old?"

"Yep. And you'll enjoy hearing it, too." Piper said with a grin before she kissed him.


End file.
